BAYSHORE BIKEWAYFact Sheet

Bikeway History

The Bayshore Bikeway is a 26-mile bicycle facility around San Diego Bay.
Planning for the Bikeway began in 1975 with a $24,500 feasibility study
conducted by Caltrans. That plan envisioned 11.3 miles of bicycle paths and
14.2 miles of bike lanes and bike routes providing convenient and scenic
bicycle transportation around the bay. [1]

In 1976, National City received a $50,000 Transportation Development Act (TDA)
allocation from SANDAG to widen the Chollas Creek Bridge on Harbor Drive, the
first project on the route. The following year, the Bay Route Bikeway Steering
Committee was formed by the County of San Diego, and the cities of Coronado,
Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, National City and San Diego. As a result of their
efforts, the state legislature passed SB 283, providing approximately $1
million for construction of the Bikeway. By 1983, nearly $1.5 million in local
TDA and state funds had been expended to construct portions of the Bikeway on
old railroad right of way along the Silver Strand in Coronado and on Harbor
Drive in the City of San Diego.

The first connection between Coronado and San Diego was via bike racks
attached to transit buses. In 1987, service on the San Diego-Coronado Ferry
became available. The next major improvement came when the San Diego Port
District constructed a bicycle path from Glorietta Boulevard, under the
Coronado Bay Bridge to Tidelands Park in Coronado. The Port District extended
this path north to the Coronado Ferry Landing in 1993.

In 1989, the San Diego Association of Governments established the Bayshore
Bikeway Policy Advisory Committee to promote improvements to the Bikeway. The
Committee consists of an elected official from the County of San Diego and
each of the five cities around the Bay. The Committee also includes
participation by representatives from affected public agencies such as the San
Diego Unified Port District and the Metropolitan Transit Development Board,
the bicycling community, and other interested members of the public.

A number of projects have been complete as a result of the committee's
efforts. In 1993, the Port District extended the Tidelands Park section of the
path to the ferry landing. In January 1997, the City of Imperial Beach
extended the Silver Strand section of bike path eastward along the bayfront
from 7th Street east to 13th Street. This 1.2-mile project was constructed
primarily within the old Coronado Branch of the San Diego & Arizona Eastern
railroad right of way and will eventually be part of a bayfront linear park.
The cost of the project was approximately $240,000 and was funded by SANDAG
with TransNet bicycle funds. Most recently, Caltrans completed a connection
between the bikeway at Pepper Park in National City and the Sweetwater River
Bikeway. This path section passes under I-5 and the San Diego Trolley line at
SR 54, allowing cyclists to ride east to Plaza Bonita.

Currently, approximately 10.5 miles of bicycle paths are in use on the
Bikeway. The rest of the facility consists of on-street sections designated as
either bicycle lanes or bicycle routes.

Current Initiatives

The original bikeway plan identified interim facilities on local streets for
portions of the route. Two of these "interim" facilities still in place today
are at the south end of the Bay between Imperial Beach and Chula Vista, and
across the Sweetwater River. Replacing these routings has been the main focus
of the Bayshore Bikeway Committee.

Sweetwater River Crossing. This project will provide a much-improved crossing of the Sweetwater River between
Chula Vista and National City. The project will eliminate a section of
the current route where cyclists must travel east from the bayfront to
cross the river on National City Boulevard. This routing includes travel
on several busy streets that do not adequately accommodate
bicycles. The new alignment will bring the route back to the Bay
within a right of way reserved for bicycles and pedestrians and will
reduce travel distance by more than two miles. The project is divided
into two phases. Phase I was the extension of the Sweetwater River
bike path along the levee to Pepper Park and Tidelands Avenue,
completed in the Spring of 1999. Phase II will cross the flood control
channel and connect to Bay Boulevard at E Street in Chula Vista.
Two alignments are under consideration: one using SDG&E and
MTDB rights of way west of the Sweetwater Marsh Wildlife Refuge,
and another in the Caltrans right of way adjacent to the I-5 freeway. The eventual alignment and design will have to
accommodate the constraints impose by the adjacent refuge and the potential future use of railroad right of way for
freight or recreational trains.

South Bay. The next major project in the South Bay will be to replace the current routing along Palm Avenue in the
City of San Diego. Preliminary design and environmental studies have
been completed for an alignment the will extend the path at 13th
Street in Imperial Beach to Bay Boulevard in Chula Vista using a
combination of MTDB railroad right of way and adjacent berms that
are part of the salt extraction operation. From the point of view of the
commuting bicyclist, this is an optimum alignment because it the most
direct route between Imperial Beach and Chula Vista. The City of San
Diego is lead agency for this section. They will be responsible for the
environmental document and final design. Right of way agreements
with the Port District, the State Lands Commission, and MTDB have
been negotiated, and final design is scheduled to begin in the Spring
of 2000.

Harbor Drive Improvements. The current Bayshore Bikeway north of National City consists almost exclusively of
bike lanes on Harbor Drive. The 32nd Street Naval Station and a variety of bayfront industries prevent construction
of a bicycle path along the waterfront. The east side of Harbor Drive is primarily railroad right of way for freight and
light rail. Bike lanes can be effective bicycle commuting facilities, but these bike lanes are adversely affected by a
number of at-grade railroad crossings, deteriorating pavement, and encroachments from parked cars. The City of
San Diego has conducted a corridor improvement study from National City to downtown San Diego. The study
inventoried need maintenance and capital improvements to the bike lanes that the City of San Diego will be
addressing through their street maintenance and capital improvement program.

For more information about the
Bayshore Bikeway,
contact Stephan Vance of
SANDAG at (619) 595-5324
or sva@sandag.cog.ca.us

[1] Caltrans' Highway Design Manual designates three classes of bicycle
facilities: Class I bike path consisting of a paved path within an exclusive
right of way, Class II bike lanes consisting of signed and striped lanes
within a street right of way, and Class III bike routes, which are preferred
routes on existing streets, identified by signs only.